


The Case

by Caderrarien



Category: The Streets of San Francisco
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-05-04 07:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14587818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caderrarien/pseuds/Caderrarien
Summary: It was a case that would threaten to tear Steve's and Mike's friendship apart.





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Steve groaned as he rolled over and blindly felt around the bedside table for the phone, managing to snatch it up after its eighth annoying ring. Eyes still closed as he pressed the phone to his ear, he mumbled sleepily, "Keller."

"Steve, it's Lee. Look I know it's late and you were probably asleep, but we have a stabbing case-"

"Oh, come on, Lee, why are you calling me?" Steve groaned as he rolled over onto his back, and draped his arm tiredly across his eyes, "Mike and I aren't even on call tonight, and this is the first night in more than a week that I have managed to get home before midnight."

"I know, Steve, but I think that you you're going to want to come down here and lead this investigation yourself." Lee insisted as he turned around and looked at the terrified young woman, wrapped in a blanket, who was sitting on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance as Bill softly read her the Miranda rights. Turning around, he stared down at the body of a young man, lying on his back in a pool of blood on the ground in a trash littered alley with the handle of the knife protruding grotesquely out of his chest.

"Why?" Steve asked cautiously as he removed his arm and slowly sat up in bed, now wide awake. There was something in the tone of Lee's voice that warned him that he wasn't going to like the answer he was about to hear.

"We've arrested the suspect here at the scene, Bill's reading her the Miranda rights now." Swallowing hard, Lee turned back towards the car as he spoke softly into the radio mic, "Steve, it's Mike's daughter, Jeannie. I think you better get down here as fast as you can."


	2. Chapter 2

Climbing out of his Porsche and heading across to the crime scene, Steve forced himself to momentarily ignore the frightened young woman in the back of the ambulance as he walked past. He knew if he was to have any chance of being allowed to work lead on this case then he had to do everything according to the book and that meant not allowing any personal friendship that he had have Jeannie or Mike get in the way of the investigation.

Hurrying across to where Lee was waiting for him in the alley, he glanced around the alley, now brightly illuminated by the headlights of two squad cars, his eyes lingering on the body that Bernie was now examining before he looked back at Lee and asked, “So, what have we got?”

“Stabbing, a witness called it in.” Lee told him pointing up at a fourth floor window overlooking the alleyway, as he continued, “The woman who lives in that fourth floor apartment, told the uniform guys when they rolled up on the scene that she had been woken up by some sort of an argument and when she looked out she saw a young woman and the victim fighting over what she thought was a knife just before she saw the woman stab the man with it.”

“And she’s sure the woman was Jeannie?” Steve asked as he ran his hand over his head and left it resting on his neck as he turned and looked up at the window which Lee was pointing at. He thought he could see the silhouette of a woman peeking through the curtains, looking back down at him.

“Positive, she was able to describe Jeannie to a tee when she called the murder into headquarters,” Lee answered as Steve turned back towards him. “And when the uniformed guys arrived they found Jeannie standing over the body, covered in blood.”

Looking back at the body, Steve frowned, “Any idea who our victim is?”

Pulling his notebook from his pocket, Lee flicked it open and glanced down at his notes, “The vic’s name, according to the ID I found in his pocket, is John Solice, age twenty-two, a uni student from the University of Arizona.”

“Arizona?” Steve frown deepened as he looked over his shoulder towards the open doors of the ambulance before he looked back at Lee, “That’s the same University that Jeannie attends.

Lee nodded his head as they walked across to the body, “I didn’t even know Jeannie was home. Mike usually gets so excited when he knows she is coming home for a couple of days that he tells everyone in the squad but this time …”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed softly before he knelt beside the body and looked across at the coroner on the other side as he asked, “What have we got Bernie?

“Single stab wound to the chest. By the position of the wound and that amount of blood he lost, I’m willing to bet that the knife probably dissected the a penetrated the heart or the aorta, he probably bled out in minutes.” Picking up one of the victim’s hands, he turned it over to show Steve the deep cuts as he continued his preliminary report, “There’s also defensive on both of his hands, looks like he fought hard to get control of the knife before he was stabbed.” Placing the hand back down on the ground, Bernie grabbed the body’s chin and rolled the head gently to the side to show Steve three long scratches that ran down the side of the victim’s face, “He also has several deep fingernail scratches on his left cheek, probably happened when they were fighting for possession of the knife.”

“Thanks, Bernie.” Steve nodded as he rose to his feet.

“I’ll send you a full report after I do the autopsy” Bernie called after Lee and Steve as they turned and walked towards the mouth of the alley.

“Has Jeannie said anything about what happened tonight?” Steve asked as he stopped and stared at the ambulance.

“No, she’s pretty shaken up. The only thing she has said to us is she doesn’t want us to call Mike, that’s why we decided to call you instead.” Lee paused and sighed, “But with the eye witness telling us she witnessed Jeannie stabbing the victim and the uniform guys found Jeannie standing over the body, covered in the vic’s blood, we had no other choice, Steve, we had to arrest her. Bill has already read her her Miranda rights.”

“I know,” Steve sighed as he lightly touched Lee’s arm in reassurance before he headed towards the open doors of the ambulance.

Pulling the blanket a little tighter around her shoulders, Jeannie could not stop herself from shaking, She could still feel his hands as he grabbed her, she could still smell the alcohol on his breath and she could still feel the handle of the knife in her hand as it plunged into his chest. She jumped as she felt someone step into the back of the ambulance and looked up just in time to see Steve step into the back of the ambulance and step across to where she was sitting on the stretcher as Lee waited just outside. “Steve!” she cried, grabbing Steve’s hands.

“Hey, are you okay?” Steve forced a small smile as he knelt in front of her, visually checking her over for any injuries that he could see, there was a light black colored shadow around her left eye, but he was uncertain if it was bruising or caused by her mascara running.

Jeannie nodded woodenly, unable to stop the tears running down her face.

“Good,” Steve breathed as he reached up and gently brushed several strands of damp hair away from her face before he grabbed her hands again and gave them a light squeeze as he ordered softly. “Jeannie, I need you to listen to me because I’m only going to say this once, understand?”

Jeannie’s lip trembled as she nodded silently again.

“I don’t want you to talk to anyone, and I mean anyone, including me, until Mike can get you a lawyer and you have spoken to him.  And I want you to make sure your lawyer is present when we question you, understand?”

“But…” Jeannie started to protest weakly.

“I mean it, Jeannie,” Steve told her firmly, “don’t say a word to anyone until you have a lawyer present! Understand?”

Jeannie swallowed hard and nodded again as another tear trickled down her cheek.

“Hey, everything’s going to be okay, I promise, just hang in there, we will get this sorted out.” he promised softly, squeezing her hand as he gave her another re-assuring smile before he stood up and left the ambulance.

Lightly squeezing her shoulder, Bill murmured, "I’ll be right back," before he turned and followed Steve.

Taking a few steps away from the ambulance so they were out of Jeannie’s earshot, Lee and Bill turned to Steve. “So, how do you want us to handle this?” Bill asked Steve quietly.

 “Take her to the hospital, get her checked out for any injuries before you take her back to Bryant Street. That should give me enough time to go and see Mike and for Mike to get her a good lawyer.” Steve paused before he turned and looked back at the ambulance, tugging his bottom lip as he tried to think of a way that he could keep Jeannie out of a holding cell. Turning back to look at his two friends, he suggested quietly, “Then after you process her through booking, why don’t you take her up to the interrogation room to wait for her lawyer. I don’t want her sitting in a holding cell, not until she has to.”

Lee and Bill nodded their agreement to the plan before separating, Lee heading back towards their car as  Bill headed back across to the ambulance and Steve turned and hurried back to his car.


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting in his car, Steve stared up at the dark house, aware that just in a few minutes time he was going to turn Mike’s world inside -out and upside-down. He took a deep breath before he reluctantly reached for the door handle and opened the door. Climbing out of the car, he walked across the sidewalk and slowly walked up the stairs. Reaching the front door, he hesitated a minute, as he forced himself to will up to courage to knock. Swallowing hard, knowing what he had to do, he raised his hand and knocked. He waited a minute, listening for any movement inside before he knocked again, harder.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Mike called, tightening the belt of his robe as he hurried down the stairs as the knocking at his front door grew louder, more impatient.  Hitting the living room light switch as he walked passed it, flooding the living room with light, he crossed to the door and opened it, staring in surprise at his partner standing there. “Steve! ”

The younger man looked unusually uncomfortable, leaving Mike with the feeling that whatever the reason Steve had turned up on his doorstep at one o’clock in the morning that his partner would rather be elsewhere than here, as Steve said nervously, “Hi, Mike.”

Eyeing his partner’s slightly dishevelled form suspiciously, Mike groaned, “Please don’t tell me that you’re here to pick me up because we have another case that just can’t wait until we’ve caught up on some sleep, Buddy boy.”

“Ahh, no,” Steve answered slowly, momentarily unable to look Mike in the face as he looked past Mike into the living room before forcing himself to look back at his friend as he asked, “Ummm … can I come in?”

Mike smiled and nodded, stepping aside as Steve entered before closing the door behind him. Turning, he frowned as Steve stopped in the middle of the room and turned back towards him. There was an uneasiness, rarely seen in the younger man’s face that instantly warned Mike that something had happened. “Steve?”

Steve swallowed hard, lifting his hand to run it nervously over his hair before he caught himself and dropped it back down to his side, as he began, “Mike, Lee and Bill called me out to attend a murder scene they were investigating tonight. A man was stabbed to death in an alleyway near the corner of Market and Ninth. A witness saw the victim and a woman fighting over what appeared to be a knife minutes before she stabbed him with the knife-”

Mike’s frown deepened in confusion, “I don’t understand, why did-”

“Mike,” Steve interrupted, the pain of having to break the news to his closest friend only too readable in his eyes as he rushed on, “The woman the witness saw stab the victim was Jeannie.”

“Jeannie?” Mike’s face lost all its color as he stared at Steve in shock, shaking his head in confusion and denial at the accusation, “No, it couldn’t be Jeannie, it has to be someone who just looks like her. The witness had to have made a mistake. Jeannie’s in Arizona, she has her midterms coming up -”

Taking a quick step forward to grab his friend’s arm to steady him, Steve’s heart broke as he forced himself to go on, “There’s no mistake, Mike. When the uniformed guys arrived at the scene, they found Jeannie standing over the victim with the knife still in her hand. I spoke to her at the scene, myself.”

Mike could only shake his head in total disbelief and horror as he felt his knees suddenly go weak and began to tremble, threatening to collapse beneath his weight as Steve helped him walk across to the sofa and helped him sit down. He felt like he was caught in some sort of a nightmare, a nightmare that he was unable to wake up from. Looking up at Steve, he admitted quietly, “I…I didn’t even know that Jeannie was in San Francisco. When she called on Sunday night, she told me she was in her dorm studying for her exams.”

Steve frowned, “You didn’t know Jeannie was in town?”

Mike shook his head again, struggling to think past the surreality of what Steve had just told him. Rubbing his face with his hands, he took a deep shuddering breath as he looked back down at his lap and asked, “Did…did Jeannie tell you why she’s come home or what happened tonight?”

“No, and I told her not to talk to anyone, not even me, until she has spoken to you and has her lawyer present when we question her.”

Mike’s head snapped up, “You arrested her?”

“We didn’t have a choice, Mike, we both know for Jeannie’s sake we have to do this one by the book and that meant arresting her at the scene.” Steve answered honestly, “Especially when we have a witness who saw Jeannie and the victim struggling over the knife minutes before she saw Jeannie stab him, and the uniformed guys found her at the scene still holding the knife.”

Mike nodded woodenly, aware that Jeannie’s sake, Steve was following strict protocol procedure. “Where’s Jeannie now?”

“I told Bill and Lee to take her to the hospital to get checked out before taking her back to Bryant Street." Steve told Mike before quietly admitting, “I don’t think she was hurt during the struggle, but I thought that would give me enough time get over here and to tell you what happened. And for you to contact a lawyer before she is processed through booking and we have to question her.”

“Thanks,” Mike murmured as he rose to his feet and slowly made his way across to the phone, still unable to believe that this was really happening and not just some sort of a bad dream.


End file.
